prehistoric painting near Chakrathirta, Hampi

The existence of at least one rock painting somewhere in Hampi however I had no clue about its location. On the morning of 11th December 2024, the third day of Sridhar's & my tour of Hampi, Anegundi and Anjanadri, we arrived at Chakrathirta, the spot where Tungabhadra takes a sharp turn towards the north. As per Hindu culture such a spot is considered holy and there would be a shrine for sure. On the left bank is religious complex consisting of Kodanda Rama Devastana, Yantrodharaka Hanuman Gudi, ancient bathing ghat and stone shelter. The deities of Kodanda Rama Devastana are rock sculptures of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana. A stone's throw away is Yantrodharaka Hanuman Gudi where the deity is again a rock sculpture of Hanuman inside a hexagram. This is a rare shrine. After visiting both shrines, we proceeded along the bank in search of Linga groups sculpted on rocks. We located the Linga groups, took a few shots and left the spot.

Next on our itinerary was Vijaya Vittala Devastana which is a good ten minute walk away. We had two routes to take. I decided to take the path passing between two massive rock formations. As we entered the passage, I noticed a monument protection notice which meant there's something of importance there. There was a natural cave.. possibly there was some sculpture inside, or rock-paintings?

As I climbed the rock leading into the mouth, a large painting on the rock face welcomed me. Wow, what a discovery. I called out at Sridhar to come and take a look at the painting. Oh by the way, I'd noticed a small oval shaped, large palm sized pit in the vicinity of the cave which was used to prepare the ochre colored paint. I've seen such pits at other prehistoric painting sites like Onake Kindi and Aihole.

Let's take a closer look at the ancient art. There are crisscrossing lines, a vague shaped figure and a fish-shaped figures. All figures are fit into the flat surface.

On the extreme left is one small figure. I have no clue as to what this represents.

I looked the painting for several minutes but remained clueless about it's meaning. The humanoid  outline is filled with diagonal lines forming little triangles which seems like hyena pattern. Perhaps I need to check with a few people as what they feel. 

The cave has an 'inner chamber' as well. The presence of this painting is a clear indication that this was inhabited for a long time, probably even in the historic times.

Bang opposite this cave is another cave. That's Sridhar. We did check out the other cave. We couldn't find any paintings there. Both caves are more less same size. While this one is east-facing the opposite one is west-facing.

At the east-facing cave entrance is an inscription as well. The script seems Tamil. I'm not an expert but it doesn't look like Kannada. Probably this inscription is under ASI protection.

At the cave's mouth on the floor was a patch of sandy dirt covered with conical pits. The pits are basically traps created by some insect to trap smaller insects. The pit walls are smooth and slippery, when an insect falls in it, it wouldn't be able to climb out and it would we caught by the pit's owner.

The west facing cave's sit-out. Here I must add that this cave is a part of a large rock formation. On the other side of the formation i.e. behind is this cave is another natural cave which is called Sugreeva's cave. Sugreeva was the brother of Vali the king of Kishkinda kingdom. That's where we'll head next.

This discovery of the rock-painting made my morning. We went exploring for a way around the rock formation towards Sugreeva's cave.

The next nearest prehistoric rock-paintings I'm aware of is at Onake Kindi. And a little further away near Mallapur village is large painting inside a cavern. Then further on many small paintings can be found on on Hire Benakal hill.

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Megalithic burial sites of Karnataka

Having spent time researching and touring Karnataka over the last few years, I realized how rich the state is in terms of heritage. The state's history goes back to the times of Chalukya and the areas of Karnataka were active right much earlier. Archaeologists have discovered artefacts dating back to 5000 BCE. Evidences of prehistoric activity are in various forms such as megalithic burial chambers, rock-paintings, petroglyphs, stone tools, pottery, ash-mounds,   Here are some of the known prehistoric burial sites in Karnataka.

Hire Benekal

Kumathi

Rajan Kollur

Aihole

Galaganatha temple complex, Aihole

Bachangudda, near Pattadakal

Kutkankeri

Brahmagiri

Below are the list of sites, click on the hyper-links to see the details of that site:

Site	neareast town/village	Taluq	District
Aihole Hill	Aihole	Badami	Bagalkot
Galaganatha temple complex	Aihole	Badami	Bagalkot
Bachangudda	Pattadakal	Badami	Bagalkot
Kutkankeri hill	Kutkankeri	Badami	Bagalkot
Kumati	Kumathi	Kudligi	Bellary
Brahmagiri	Siddapur	Molakalmuru	Chitradurga
Sultanpur	Sultanpur	Chitradurga	Chitradurga
?	Moodabidri	Mangalore	Dakshina Kannada
Motebennur	Motebennur	Byadgi	Haveri
Hire Benekal hill	Hire Benekal	Gangavati	Koppal
Chikka Benakal	Chikka Benakal	Gangavati	Koppal
?	Anegundi	Gangavati	Koppal
Indrakeela Betta	Koppal	Koppal	Koppal
Byse	Nagara	Sagar	Shimoga
Nilaskal	Nagara	Sagar	Shimoga
Hergal	Nagara	Sagar	Shimoga
Mumbaru	Nagara	Sagar	Shimoga
Araga Gate	Nagara	Sagar	Shimoga
Hagaratgi	Hagaratgi	Shorapur	Yadgir
Yemmi Gudda	?	Shahpur	Yadgir
Rajan Kollur	Rajan Kollur	Shorapur	Yadgiri

There could be many more sites, hope to expand this list.
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Jogikallu Kote

Jogikallu Kote was an accidental discovery, it happened while I was scanning the area for Palayyana Kote. The fort got into the itinerary for December 2013.. I was trying to cover some places in Davangere, Chitradurga and Bellary districts.

December 21, 2013
We left Dharwad by 5 AM, reached Ujjini via Gadag, Mundargi and Kottur. Enroute we went across river Tungabhadra, not much water but we could see lot of water birds, four or five big varieties. We had a brief stop at Ujjaini Matha. During the stop while inquiring about Palayyana Kote, I happened to hear about another fort called Bairidevara Kote a hill fort. Though Bairidevara hill was a short climb I chose to take pictures of the fort from distance because of time constraint. Next we moved on towards Palayyana Kote.. reaching the base of the hill by vehicle was not possible, and the distance was bit too much to cover by foot. Again I took pictures from a distance. Next was Jogikal Gudda.. though it was past 1 PM we decided to explore the hill first and then have lunch.

Halae Jogikallu is a small village next to a rocky hillock of the same name. The name Jogikal can be split into Jogi and Kallu. Jogi means Yogi, I think. It is possible that a Shiva Yogi stayed on the rock hill hence the name. Going by the look of the hill it seems like a prehistoric site. So, here we are at the fort entrance.. we walked about a kilometer through the village streets to reach this spot.

The fort entrance has been renovated recently.. looks like this is an important shrine in this region. This bastion is besides the fort entrance.

To the other side is a steep face and more bastions.

We climb up to a high point.. fort entrance, the crumbling bastion and the village below.

This bastion is probably the highest one. Looks like it was built between 600 to 1000 years ago. It might have been used to store food and weapons.

Another bastion in the background, that  could be the far end of the fort. All bastions give a commanding view of the neighboring plains and hills.

This bastion proves that ancient people were always in synch with Nature. When they had the ability to break and move rocks, this boulder could have been broken but builders chose to leave it intact and made it part of the structure. Wonderful creation!

These two boulders might have been one centuries ago. Note the chequered cracks on the right boulder.

The shrine; its a group of several temples.

This place has been recently tidied up and painted, probably a fair was held days or weeks ago.

To the right of this bastion is a small gateway, an exit to the outer fort.

The gateway.

The bastion as seen from the outer fort. Note the row of slits for firing arrows or guns.

We are the far end of the fort, probably the southern tip. Accessing the fort from these slopes is not easy.

Kote Kere ~ fort's water tank. Paddy is the main crop in this region. Paddy had been harvested and village folks were busy running the stalks through portable machines to separate the grains from the stalks.

Being a rock hill, it will have its share of natural shelters. Here's one we could see easily. There could be many more we missed.

I went into the shelter.. there's a window to the other side of the hill.

Beautiful. A valley down there. With good rain fall this place will be a wonderful sight. To the left a small flat surface can be seen.. It looks like a good sentry point. The spot could also be a good spot for a yogi to meditate.

I loved the place, as much as its name.. J o g i k a l. I wish I had more time to explore in detail.. we might have found a rock painting or a petroglyph hidden some where.. Well, time to leave, our tummies were growling.

Jogikal is a kilometer from the main road. We came back to the main road, found a shady spot with lot of clean rocks and settled down for home made lunch.. jolada rotti, chatni, sprouts, cucumber, carrot, tomato and curd. Our next destination was Kumati to see the prehistoric anthropomorphic statues.

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Prehistoric stone tools factory of Hiregudda, Sanganakallu - 1

March 7, 2013
During the first visit here, my friend Rama Dasa from this village showed us ancient petroglyphs of Sanganakallu. Rama Dasa shared the knowledge about this hill which he's been exploring since childhood days. We saw hundreds of rock etchings depicting humans and animals such as bulls, horses, elephants, tigers, serpents and birds. I must mention the bull-axe wheel, a complex drawing consisting of 5 axes and 5 bulls. Rama Dasa said that every drawing had a meaning, they connected our world on this planet to the cosmic world. The 5 hour tour clambering up the dolerite dyke was a tiring exercise. By 1 PM it was too hot for comfort, we ended the tour.

December 22, 2013
The second visit. We- Mohan mama, Rama Dasa and I -arrived here quite early, it was winter solstice, an important day in astronomy. Rama Dasa had gone to a field behind this hill to mark the shadow of this hill's peak - he marks the position of the shadow every year to study its movement. With that observation Rama Dasa understands the relative position of Earth and Sun. In this picture below, the moon is positioned just above Peacock hill, few minutes after shooting this picture the moon sank behind the rocks. Being here on Winter Solstice Day was a coincidence, objective of this visit was to see the Neolithic tools factory atop this hill i.e. the summit between Peacock hill and Dolerite Dyke.

Rama Dasa was bare foot again! Last time he climbed the blistering rocks barefoot and this time he's walking over thorn littered surfaces. In the background is the top portion of the Dolerite dyke. The spot we are standing on is about 150' above the plains. This spot is supposed to be stone tools grinding place i.e. rough cut tools were polished to get the required cutting edges.

A small area of plain land between the the three peaks of Hiregudda. Ramadasa believes that a stone dam existed here to capture rain water.

One of the flakes located by Rama Dasa. This piece of rock was created while manufacturing a stone tool - its a waste product back then but today its an important piece of evidence for that ancient activity. Only a trained eye can identify such stones.

Mama listens to Rama Dasa's explanation of stone tools manufacturing activities here. Some years ago quarrying was active which disturbed prehistoric evidences to a great extent. In the background is one of the peaks with a partly damaged standing stone - thanks to quarrying work.

A small collection of stone tools and flakes. Top left piece could be an axe while the top right piece could be an unfinished pounding or grinding stone. The rest are flakes of chips.

Close by I happened to see a large stone with a smooth concave surface, it looked manmade. This is an ancient grinding stone.. grains were ground into flour using a shaped stone with a gently curved surface which would fit into our palm.

We cleared off the shrub trying to get a clearer view of the ancient grinding mill. In the act of cleaning we discovered the second grinding stone right besides the first one. This is evidence that neolithic people worked in groups.. because they lived in groups.

A short demo by Rama Dasa-

Rama Dasa demonstrates how a man would have worked the mill. In his hand is the grinding stone which would go round and round crushing grains in the pit.

We located a third stone too, a much smaller though. Note how smooth the surface is yet it is rough enough to catch grains and crush them.

The grinding stone had multiple purposes, not only it was used to grind grains but it could also be used to sharpen tools. For instance this is a well formed stone axe but its unfinished. The edges would be rubbed patiently until they become smooth cutting edges.

We climb little higher.. in search of raw material for manufacturing tools. We take a short break under jaali-gida shade; we have a breakfast of dry snacks and water. In this picture below, the white circle marks the location of an ancient stone dam. The wall created a small tank to capture rain water.

A wider look of the valley.. and the plains of Kappagallu village below.

Mama and Rama Dasa inspecting one of the sources of raw material for stone implements. This rust colored stone is hard; well suited for making implements. I think its the effect of oxidation that has formed a rust colored coating on the originally dark brown stone.

A closer look at the standing stone.. and the western valley on the hill.

This is the second source of raw material for stone implements. These stones come in shades of grey, different compared to the brown stones.

Close to the standing stone, standing over a rock bed, I was trying to cool off in the breeze. I noticed a row of circular shallow pits. The line pointed towards the Pitalappa shrine in the Dolerite dyke across the valley - Rama Dasa confirmed the alignment of the line. About 20' away there was another similar row of pits at a slightly different angle.. no idea what it pointed.

View of peacock hill from the standing stone... some day I want to explore that rock formation. Might find a rock painting or two there.

From the standing stone, we move to the western face of the hill. On this face of the hill we found remains of a stone circle.

This article will continue.. do check out the following post - Prehistoric stone tools factory of Hiregudda, Sanganakallu - 2.

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